Machine for slotting the heads of screws and the like



July 31, 1928. 1,679,063

E. SPENGLER MACHINE FOR SLOTTING THE HEADS OF SCREWS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 8, 1925 4 Shgets-Sheet l IA/yE/vrm 0 I July 31, 1928. 4 1,679,063

E. SPENGLER MACH INE FOR SLOTTING THE HEADS OF SCREWS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 8, 1925 4Sheets-Sheet 2 iA ViNm July 31, 1928. 1,679,063

, E. SPENGLER MACHINE FOR SLOTTING THE HEADS OF SCREWS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 8, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 l Fig; 45

i/WiNW/ July 31, 1928.

E. SP ENGLER MACHINE FOR SLOTTING THE HEADS OF SCREWS AND THELIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. ..1925

ZA/M/Vm Patented July 31, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN SPENGLER, OF PONTOISE, FRANCE.

MACHINE FOR SLOTTING THE HEADS OF SCREWS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed September 8, 1925, Serial No. 55,091, and. in France September 12, 1924.

This invention relates to machines for slotting or notching the heads of screws, the construction of which is simple and of small cost in comparison to that of ma-, chines at present in use.

A machine is hereinafter described and illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side view of a general arrangement of the machine,

Figure 2 is a plan view seen from above,-

Figures 3 and 4 are details,

Figure 5 is an improved modification of the machine, shown in elevation,

Figure 6 is a plan view of this modified form, and

Figures 7 to 9 are details of it.

The machine for slotting the heads of screws according to Figures 1 to 4 consists essentially of a charger or chute 1, with an inclined base, in which the screws to be slotted are contained without being arranged in any particular way, the lateral Walls of this member together with the inclined base being arranged in such a way as to guide and lead the screws towards the feeding member.

This member consists of a vertical metal plate 2 which is shaped so that it forms a. part of a circle, the lower part of this plate being attached to the end of a lever 3 pivoted about a shaft 4 and adapted to oscillate in one direction under the action of a cam 5 keyed to a rotating shaft 6, and in the opposite direction, under the action of a counterweight 3, a return spring or in any other way, so that this plate 2 forming the feeding sector is given, a vertical reciprocating upward and downward movement. The up er part of this plate 2 comprises, in its tiiickness and over the whole of its width a mortise 7 of suitable depth and width to receive freely the shanks of the screws of which the heads to be slotted rest upon the edges of the said mortise, which may be adjusted by means of keys according to the different patterns of screws.

When the sector makesits reciprocating movement in the interior of the charger 1, by passing through a cavity provided for this purpose, the upper mortised edge 7 of the sector 2, when the latter makes its downward stroke, reaches at a certain moment the level of the inclined base of the hopper.

At this moment the screws accumulated in the charger cover the space above the sector 2 in such away that when it rises again the screws are displaced in all directions and two or a larger number of them engage, by means of their shanks, in the mortise 7, and locate, themselves correctly in position in the said mortise, as shown in Figure 4, as the sector 2 moves upwards.

Behind the feeding sector 2, and in the same vertical plane, is arranged a second metal plate conveying sector 8, the outer face of which is in constant contact with the inner face of the sector 2. This'member, mounted at the end of the lover 9 which is pivoted upon the shaft 4, is given a reciprocating movement in its vertical plane bytheaction of the cam 10 and the counterweight 9. The relative oscillations of the two parts 2 and 8 oppose each other, that is to say that the sector 2 descends while the member 8 rises.

The levers 3 and 9 are arranged upon their common shaft 4 in such a way that a certain gap is left between them, the sector 2 being attached upon its outer face to its lever 3 and the member 8 upon its opposite outer face to its lever 9.

The amplitude of the oscillation of the lever 9 and of its member 8 is not the same as that of the sector 2 inasmuch as the member 8 does not necessarily descend as far as the level of the base of thecharger but on the other hand its upward movement is greater than that of the sector 2 for a reason which is given hereinafter.

This second oscillating member 8 is pro-= verse oscillating movement of the two mem- 1i hers 2 and 8, when the feeding sector is 'n the edges of the said mortise, projecting upon each side of its lateral faces, the re-,

sult is that, when it descends, the projecting parts-of the head of the first screw are raised by the edges of the mortise 11 of the oscillating member 8 which at this moment is oppositely actuated with an upward movement.

This screw is consequently raised and removed gradually out of the mortise 7 and gradually lodges itself in the lodgment 11 of the member 8 which forms the conveying sector which carries the said screw to the slot-cutter, which may consist of a circular saw.

The removal of a second screw, during the same inverse stroke of the sectors, is prevented by the slope of the base of the lodgmcnt 11, which holds the second screw of the mortise 7 until the following period when the latter is raised like the first one, and so on, as long as there are screws in the said mortise 7 and the latter is supplied by the charger at each of its reciprocating strokes. i

The screw, thus located in the mortise 11 of the conveying sector 8. is carried by the latter as far as the end of its upward swing in such a way that the head of the screw is placed in front of the tool which eventually makes the slot.

In the case when, for any reason whatever, the movement of the sectors 2 and 8 is prevented, for. example by the faulty placing of a jammed screw, the machine cannot be damaged since the control of the upward oscillations of the said sectors is not effected positively by the cams but by the counterwei hts 3' and 9. 'Tfpon the pivoting shaft 4 of the levers and 9 and in the gap left between the latter, is mounted an arm 12 held by a spring and comprising towards its upper part a guiding and retaining orifice 13 forming a peck et or vise into which the head of the screw to be slotted is inserted and strongly pressed by the conveying sector 8 when the latter arrives towards the end of its upward stroke, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1.

The head of the screw thus placed in position in the orifice 13, the arm 12 is slightly pushed forward towards the end of the stroke of the sector 8 which brings the surface of the head of the screw to be slotted into contact with a slot-cutter or circular saw 14 which notches the head of the s rew to the desired extent, the stroke of the ver 8 being regulated by a stop 22.

At a predetermined moment the mov ment of the cam 10 controlling the lever 9',

causes the conveying sector 8 to commence its downward stroke.

In order to press the arm- 12 against the sector 8 towards the end of the forward stroke as well as to ensure the .removal of the screw head from contact with the saw 14, at

frame 16 of the machine; the speed of rotation of the said slot-cutter or saw 14 may be varied by means of driving pulleys. 18 mounted upon the shafts 17 and 6; the power required for the machine is transmitted by belts or in any other Way; the drive of the shaft 6 of the cams 5 and 10 may be obtained in combination with that of the shaft 17 or directly by a driving belt. Adjusting nuts and lock nuts 19 enable the position of the slot-cutter 14 to be adjusted so that it is exactly at the centre of the heads of the screws.

In order to eject the screw (the head of which has just been slotted) from the lodgment 11 of the conveying sector 8, an arm 20 adjustably mounted upon the end of the lever 21, moves into the said lodgment at the commencement of the descending stroke of the sector 8, this arm being raised without any action taking place when the same sec-' tor rises.

It is understood that in order to construct a machine for slotting the heads of screws based upon the principle of operation described above, modifications of details and improvements may be made and the use of equivalent members may also be imagined,

vention; for example an intermediate charger may be fixed behind the sector to enable a reserve supply of screws to be kept.

The modified constructional form of the machine according to the invention, shown in Figures 5 to 9 comprises as in the previous case, a charger 1 with an inclined base containing the screws; the feeding member is formed by the arm 23 terminating at V at its upper part, which, actuated with an upward and downward movement moves within the charger 1; the upper part of 23 is flush with the base of the hopper in its lowest position, the part shown in dotted lines shows this arm at the end of its stroke, that is to say in its highest position; the upward and downward movement is given by the cam 24 which, by means of a roller 25, acts upon the lever 26 pivot-ed at 27; a spring 28 attached at one end to the frame and at the other end,-to the end 29 of the lever 26 tends to press the roller 25 constant- 1y against the cam 24.

A vcertain number of screws contained in the charger 1 locate themselves upon the head of the feeder and enter into the slideway 30 which is inclined at an angle to the horizontal. o

This slideway is shown in section in Figure 7 and is formed by two guides of suitable shape 31 and 31' the distance between which may be adjusted in order to accomwithout going outside the spirit of the inmodatescrews of different dimensions; upon the side of these angles are arranged cheeks 32 which guide the screws when they leave the Charger to enter the slideway.

A figure 33 throws out all the screws which are badly placed; this finger is actuated by the lever 34 which is controlled by a cam, not shown, mounted upon the same shaft as the previous ones.

A member 35 covers the slideway so as to prevent the screws, once they have been placed in the desired position, from moving out ofplace; this member 35 is jointed at 36 and rises at the same time as the member 37, of which mention is made hereinafter, so as to allow the passage of screws which are rough, bur-red or slightly out of place.

The screws descend along the slideway 30 by virtue of their weight and fall into the upper part '38 of the conveying arm 39; this arm is actuated by the lever 49 pivoted at 27, like the lever 26, and controlled by the cam 42; a spring 48 connected at one end to the frame and at the other end to the lever 49 keeps the lever always in contact with the cam, the rotation of the latter producing the lifting and lowering of the conveying member.

member 39 which, in its upward movement,

carries it as in the previous case under the positioning arm 37 for the notch to be formed in the head ofthe screws.

An arm compressesuponthe last but one screw in the slideway 30; this arm is controlled, as described hereinafter, in such a way, as to release one screw for each complete stroke of the conveying arm, that is,

when arm 40 is raised, the screws in the slideway30 move forward one, and the arm 40 upon returning pressesupon the last but one screw, the last screw" now being free, ejects the slotted screw on the downward movement of member 39 and is-itself then vcaught up by the top,38. In this way there .is only one free screw and one single screw. which can enter into-the head 38 of, the con suit the dimensions of the heads 0f the screws. The heads of the screws mayalso be held in position by arranging the head 38 in such a way that the walls of its cavity grip the shanks of the screws when 38 meets the member 43, as shown in Figure 9.

As mentioned previously, the head of the screw is rigidly held in place in the aperture provided for this purpose in the member 43, and the saw 44 cuts the notch in the screw in a perfect manner without producing any burrs and exactly in the centre of the head.

The upward movement of the arm 37' is obtained by the upward movement of the conveying member 38-39; the descent of this arm, produced by a return sprin which is not shown, is limited by the adjustable stop 45; this arm 37 carries along, in its movement, the member 35 which covers the slideway to which it is attached, as well .as the finger 40. I

If desired, an ejector may be provided as in the form of construction previously described, for removing the notched screw from the member 38, but for most of the time this will be unnecessary for it is pushed out at the end; of the downward movement of 3839 by the head itself of the screw which is then at the end of the slideway, and which is caught by 38 when it moves up again.

The whole machine is completed by a cup 46 which receives the completed screws;

when the work is to be done upon stecl' screws, the operation must be carried out with an abundance of oil and a pump 47 is provided to raise the oil in order to spray the heads of the screws continually. The shape, details and dimensions of this ma"- chine ma naturally vary without on that account a tering in any way the principle of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for slotting the heads of screws comprising a charger, said charger containing in haphazard order a store of screws to be worked, a feeding arm reciprocable in a vertical plane, said arm being adaptedto move in said charger among the =mass of screws, a conveying arm reciprocable 1n a vert1cal plane, said conveying arm being adapted toreceive the screws in turn from said feeding arm, a movable member havin a positioning orifice, a slot-cutting tool, said conveying arm bein adapted to place the screws by their heads in said positioning orifice in order to bring them into contact with said tool,

2. A machine. for slotting the heads of screws as claimed in claim 1, in which said slot-cutting tool is a circular saw.

3. A machine. for slotting the heads of screws as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feeding arm has the shape of a sector, said sector comprising at its upper part a mortise adapted to contain the shanks of the screws, the heads of said screws" projecting from either side of the lateral faces of the sector,

an oscillating lever, a cam, a counterweight, said cam and counterweight controllin the movement of said oscillating lever, sai sector being mounted at its lower part on said lever.

4. A machine for slotting the heads of screws, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feeding arm has the shape of a sector, said sector com ising at its upper part a mortise adapted to c ntain the shanks of the screws, the heads of said screws projecting from either side of the lateral faces of the sector, anoscillating lever, a cam, a counterweight, said cam and counterweight controlling the movement of said oscillating lever, said sector being mounted at its lower part on said lever, the conveying arm being situated in the same plane as said feeding arm with the edges of.the arms in contact, the conveying arm having the same form as said feeding arm, and having at its upper part, a lodgment, the edges of said lodgment hooking upon the projecting parts of the heads of the screws located in said mortise formed in said sector and carrying the screws along.

5. A machine for slotting the heads of screws, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said movable arm is composed of an oscillating arm disposed in the vertical plane of said feeding and conveying arms and has formed in it a guiding and positioning orifice in which is pushed and held the head of the screw to be notched, said screw being pressed therein by said conveying arm towards the end of its upward stroke.

6. A machine for slotting the heads of screws, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said movable arm is composed of anoscillatin arm disposed in the verticalplane of said bringing the screwhead into contact with a slot-cutting tool which makes the desired slot, in combination with means for ejecting the screw after slotting and means for returning the oscillating arm.

7. A machine for slotting the heads of screws, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the feeding arm has the shape .of a sector, said sector comprising at its upper part a mortise adapted to contain the shanks of the screws, the heads of said screws projecting from either side of the lateral faces of the sector, an oscillating lever, a cam, a counterweight, said arm and counterweight controlling the movement of said oscillating lever, said sector being mounted at its lower part on said lever, the conveying arm being situated in the same plane as said feeding arm and with the edges of the arms in contact, the conveying arm having the same form as said feeding arm, having at its upper part a lodgment, the edges of said lodgment hooking upon the projecting parts of the heads of the screws located in said mortise formed in said sector and carrying the screws along, and further comprising an oscillating lever, an arm adjustably mounted on the end of said lever, the screw being ejected from said lodgment in said conveying arm by means of said adjustable arm entering said lodgment when said conveying arm descends.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

EDWIN SPENGLER. 

